Berry Good (part one)

 

 

Last week my lovely friend (and neighbour ) and I built this berry structure.  I have never built anything before and with Kim's help I have now drilled, cut using an electric saw, dug 50cm deep holes, tamped down the soil, measured, clamped bits together and checked for levels. (all with three little ones under foot!)
 It isn't finished yet....  can't wait to harvest some berries in the future!!

Here one minute, gone the next!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Nothing is permanent!! (well not much anyway)

Yellow Bird

 

I often find the best motivation for getting out the sewing machine is making a last minute birthday present.  These last minute makes are often the ones I like the best too!  This bag was inspired by the song 'Yellow Bird' - (from the movie The Sapphires) which the birthday girl and I have been singing lately.
 I hope she likes it!

Honey Snaps

 

 

Today I finally made Honey Snaps.  I have been wanting to make these for ages.  I used the honey I was given for my birthday from some lovely neighbours.   I often fantasize about bee keeping myself but why bother when we have very generous neighbours and we can buy our honey from here.    Maybe one day I'll do it too.....

 Anyway these were super easy to make and very yummy (perhaps a little sweet.....)
Ingredients: 3 tbspn honey, 2 tblspn sugar, 50 g butter, 1/2 cup plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or ginger)

Preheat oven to 180.  In a saucepan heat  butter, honey and sugar until melted.  Take off heat.  Mix all dry ingredients into the saucepan and mix well.  Drop teaspoons of mixture onto cold tray.  Bake for 10 mins.

There have been some cold and frosty mornings lately.  Brrrrrr.

I finally finished these presants.  I did the fronts ages ago but had to finish off the backs.  I should really make more of an effort to actually finish things.  It does feel good when you do.  I am definately a starter.  I was about to start a new knitting project but resisted - i should finish Sunny's dress first!!

 

The oranges are good at the moment.   Check out how big one of them is - they are all from the same tree!   An orange a day keeps the doctor away - well I hope so anyway! (It hasn't worked for poor Django who has been very sick these past few days, but he usually only eats half an orange, maybe that's the problem???).

Lime Syrup Cake and stuff

This is our lime tree and it is full of limes so yesterday Sunny and I picked some  to cook a Polenta, yogurt and lime syrup cake.  I got the recipe from Trisso's mum and it is delicious and easy to make.

  
Ingredients
1 cup polenta
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp grated lime rind
250g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup SR flour
 Lime syrup
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup lime juice

1.  Combine polenta, yogurt and lime rind and cover and refridgerate for 2 hours or overnight.

2.  Preheat oven to 160 `C (fanforced) and grease a 23 x 14 loaf pan.

3.  Mix butter and sugar - add to polenta mix, add eggs and flour.  Put in pan and bake for about 50  mins.

4.   Lime syrup - stir lime juice and sugar over low heat until dissolved then bring to boil.

5. Pierce cake all over with skewer and pour hot syrup over hot cake in pan. Leave for 15 mins then turn out onto plate.  YUM.

 

 

 

It must look like all we do is  eat cake and biscuits!!  We do do other things!  Lately I have been busy taming the wild and weedy garden.  All that rain over summer meant less gardening and an overgrown soggy mess.  It is quite tidy now which feels good and I have been planting lots of autumn veggies.

 

 

 

 Other stuff I do is with Sunny, the good old waterfall, always a hit!

We made a colour sort activity.

I did finish this quilt which was a presant for Kim who just had a baby girl on Friday.  Yipee.  We need more girls in the valley!

 

Django caught a fish which we ate for dinner.

Trisso has been welding and fixing the slasher.

The boys are getting ready for soccer this year.  They love the shin pads!

 

 

Creative Urges

It can be hard as a busy mum to find time to fulfil those creative urges....but it certainly feels great when you can!!!!

Today after 5 days of being flooded in Trisso took the kids out to get supplies.  I am having a wonderful day at home alone.  They have been gone nearly all day and so I have got out the sewing machine for the first time in ages.  I made my first attempt at a quilt type thing - it is to be for a pregnant friend - a mat for the baby to lie on.  Perfection and neatness whilst sewing are not strong points of mine so it is an apt  time to embrace Wabi-sabi - "beauty in imperfection" ( my sewing is mostly always imperfect!).  Anyway  handmade imperfections are good, they give character and in the end can make it even better! 

This is the start - patchwork is actually a bit harder than i thought - especially if you are just cutting out using your eye - things do get crooked and puffed up seams.

Choosing the material is fun.  It is good to use up fabric I have sitting there in a box.  I also like how you can use just a small bit of a treasured fabric and still have some for another creation.  Adding more bits is even more fun - turning it into a picture.  It isn't finished yet but I am trying  to learn that I don't have to finish a sewing project in one sitting.  I always end up rushing to finish and ruining it.  I still want to add another tree, some clouds, birds, ric rac.......

Gee it feels good to do something without interruption. It is still flooding...uh oh, they are home, better go!  If you want to see what the kids creative urges have been throughout the flood go here.

 

This is the music I was listening to whilst sewing today.

 

Sunny's Birthday Party

Two already. Not a little baby anymore.

I finally made these little wings this week - nothing like leaving a job to the last minute. I have been meaning to make Sunny some since i first saw them earlier in the year.

I had to make her a sun cake.   It was actually very easy to make, just two circles and one cut into triangles.

Sunny was very pleased with the singing of the Happy Birthday song just for her. The whole day was worth it just for that very happy, pleased smile.

Partied out.